Industrials lift STOXX 600 as earnings season gathers steam (updated)

Sartorius AG

18/04/2024 10:13

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        * 
      ABB climbs as quarterly profit beats expectations
    

        * 
      Sartorius dives on Q1 miss
    

        * 
      Planisware shares jump in Paris trading debut
    

        * 
      ECB 'crystal clear' on June rate cut, de Guindos says 
    

        * 
      STOXX 600 adds 0.3%
    

  
 (Updated at 0854 GMT)
    By Ozan  Ergenay and Johann M  Cherian
       April 18 (Reuters) - European shares edged up on
Thursday, with industrials lifting the benchmark index following
ABB's upbeat results, while Germany-listed Sartorius was on
track for its biggest drop in six months after bleak quarterly
orders.
    The continent-wide STOXX 600  .STOXX  was up 0.3%, as of
0854 GMT, as the earnings season picked up steam. 
    The industrials sector  .SXNP  was the biggest boost with a
0.6% rise, driven by a nearly 5.2% surge in ABB  ABBN.S  as the
Swiss engineering company's profit trounced market expectations
in the first quarter.
    On the flip side, shares of Sartorius  SATG.DE  slumped
11.5% after the lab supplies maker's first-quarter figures
missed analysts' expectations for order intake and revenue. The
Franco-German firm's France-listed shares  STDM.PA  dropped
13.0%.
    As markets gear up for a flurry of corporate reports in the
weeks to follow, first-quarter earnings are expected to decrease
12.1% from the previous year, according to LSEG data, as of
Tuesday.
    Subdued earnings could reflect a weakening economy, said
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank
said, thereby giving the European Central Bank a greater reason
to cut interest rates, which could boost risk appetite for
European stocks.
    The benchmark STOXX is more than 2% away from its all-time
closing high hit in late March, as traders price in
uncertainties around geopolitical tensions, the impact of record
high European interest rates on corporate performances and the
timing of U.S. rate cuts.
        Meanwhile, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de
Guindos said the 
    ECB has made it "crystal clear"
     that interest rates could be cut in June but has also been
firm that policy decisions beyond that remain up in the air.
    Among other stocks, Planisware  PLNW.PA  jumped 25.1% in a
stellar debut for the French software group on the Euronext
Paris, adding momentum to a much-anticipated revival in initial
public offerings.
    Danone  DANO.PA  rose 1.3% after the French company posted
stronger-than-expected quarterly sales, while Nokia  NOKIA.HE 
slipped 1.3% after the Finnish telecom gear maker's quarterly
profit figures missed estimates.
    Forvia  FRVIA.PA  jumped 3.1% after the European automotive
supplier's organic sales growth came in slightly ahead of market
expectations for the first quarter.
    easyJet  EZJ.L  climbed 3.3% to top the FTSE 100 index
 .FTSE  after the UK airline forecast a smaller-than-expected
winter loss on increased flight demand.
    On the data front, building permits for apartments in
Germany fell 18.3% in February from a year earlier, underscoring
a continued downturn in demand in the construction and real
estate industry.

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Ozan Ergenay in
Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)
 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))